Matt Ritchie makes "slumps" — whimsical artwork of popular characters slumped over as if falling asleep or theatrically dejected by their latest mishap.

Up top are the heroes of Star Wars, who have perhaps just learned that Disney has no plans to remaster the original theatrical release. Here's the Justice League, reading reviews of the movies they appear in. Read the rest

See sample pages from this book at Wink.

Many people first encountered the work of the painter Frank Frazetta (1928 - 2010) from his 1960s and 1970s paperback covers for Edgar Rice Burroughs' adventure novels and Robert E. Howard’s Conan stories. Frazetta also painted a lot of covers for fantasy novels that were nearly unreadable. But people bought the books anyway because Frazetta’s art was on the covers.

Frazetta is one of the best fantasy illustrators ever. When you think of sword and sorcery – its look and feel – you are thinking of the exotic universe Frazetta created on oil and canvas. He was inspired and influenced by the great book illustrators of the past, such as Howard Pyle, and N.C. Wyeth, but he added his unique style, and a love for fantastic worlds, strange creatures, demonic sorcerers, fighting men, and curvaceous women. The men and women in his paintings usually wear little or no clothing, because Frazetta loved the human body more than anything else, and he was a master at painting it.

Testament is a deep-dive tribute to Frazetta, with lots of rare examples of his early work in comic books, as well as paintings from his later career. It is the third book in a series edited by the Fenners (the first is Icon, and the second is Legacy, and they are both excellent).

I’ve been a fanatic Frazetta devotee since I was 12 years old and his work has never lost its magic appeal for me. Read the rest

Top: Detail from "Les Porteurs de Mauvaises Nouvelles," by Jean-Jules-Antoine Lecomte du Nouÿ. Bottom: Detail from "Conan the Destroyer," by Frank Frazetta.

I'm not opposed to swipes. I like them! I look forward to the inevitable comment that comes with my posts about interesting swipes: "It's just a coincidence. There are only a limited number of poses a human body can make, and this is a common one."

The Missing Lecomte, from James Gurney's terrific art blog, Gurney Journey. Read the rest